Abington team wins worldwide Jack Daniels BBQ competition

It’s considered to be the Wimbledon or The Masters of barbecue, and it just so happens that a team from Abington emerged victorious at the recent 23rd annual Jack Daniels World Barbecue Championship.

“It’s the most prestigious event in the world when it comes to barbecue,” said Abington resident Bill Gillespie, pit boss and chief cook for the Smokin’ Hoggz team. “And it’s the hardest to get into.”

This was the second time Gillespie competed at The Jack, as he was part of a team that took part in the contest four years ago.

It’s considered to be the Wimbledon or The Masters of barbecue, and it just so happens that a team from Abington emerged victorious at the recent 23rd annual Jack Daniels World Barbecue Championship.

“It’s the most prestigious event in the world when it comes to barbecue,” said Abington resident Bill Gillespie, pit boss and chief cook for the Smokin’ Hoggz team. “And it’s the hardest to get into.”

This was the second time Gillespie competed at The Jack, as he was part of a team that took part in the contest four years ago.

“But we didn’t do well at that point,” Gillespie said. “It was good to come back and be successful.”

The Smokin’ Hoggz team was comprised of Gillespie, his fiancée, Shaune Connolly, Weymouth resident Alan Burke and his cousin, Greg Burke.

“This is the contest every barbecue competition team strives to get into,” Alan said.

As grand champion, the Smokin’ Hoggz team received $5,000 and the chance to come back next year to defend their title.

To compete at “The Jack,” as it affectionately referred to, domestic teams must win a state championship with at least 25 teams or a competition of 50 teams, or win one of the premiere barbecue competitions that qualify a team for an automatic berth.

“Not every state championship winner gets to go to The Jack though,” Gillespie said. “You can only have one representative from each state.”

If there are multiple champions from certain states, the teams in question are chosen to go to The Jack through a random drawing.

Gillespie said being part of a drawing was not a worry for his team this year.

“We won three grand championships last year,” Gillespie said. “We won one in New York, one in Massachusetts and one in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire win automatically qualified us for The Jack this year. We didn’t have to go through the drawing or anything.”

The Jack took place Oct. 22 in Lynchburg, Tennessee, where Jack Daniels was first distilled more than a century ago. Gillespie said each team in the competition is judged in four categories; chicken, pork ribs, pork shoulder/butt and beef briscuit.

Seventy-one championship teams from the U.S. and 18 teams from Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Puerto Rico and Switzerland fought for the title at this year’s Jack Daniels event.

Gillespie said his team, as well as every other team in the competition, was responsible for buying its own meats and bringing its own cooking supplies.

“You have to spend a lot of money at each one of these competitions,” Alan said. “Plus, you have to travel a lot so any cash reward really helps offset the costs.”

The members of Smokin’ Hoggz drove to Tennessee for the competition, noting it takes a lot of gas money to get to the various events.

Gillespie said Smokin’ Hoggz is looking forward to defending its championship at next year’s Jack Daniels competition.

He said cooking is just something he loves to do.

“We competed in eight events in total last year and 12 of them this year, all with the Smokin’ Hoggz team,” Gillespie said. “We started this team in 2008 and we’ve been working hard ever since, with the goal of winning The Jack. And we did that, which is great. I’ve been competing in barbecue competitions since 2005 and I’ve been cooking barbecue for the past 15 years. It’s just something we all love and this team is here to stay.”

Gillespie said he was drawn into the world of barbecue when he bought his first smoker through a catalogue 15 years ago.

“Some people spend their whole lives trying to figure out what they want to do,” Gillespie said. “I’m lucky. I found my calling.”

Gillespie said he has thought about opening a restaurant, but loves competing and wants to focus on that right now.

“But hopefully, our success at The Jack will open up future opportunities in that direction,” Alan said, adding that Smokin’ Hoggz does a little bit of catering but nothing on a large scale at the moment.

Gillespie said he feels the team’s specialty is its beef briscuit, but added everything the group makes is delicious.

“The secret to great barbecue is practice and consistency,” Gillespie said. “The trick is getting the food to taste the same way every time. I think we do that pretty well at this point.”